The Membership Guys Podcast - Practical Advice For Membership Website Owners

In today’s digital-driven society, it often feels like you can’t go far without bumping into a self-proclaimed social media ‘expert’. So, when you encounter someone who everyone else calls an expert, who speaks with a quiet assuredness and conspicuous lack of arrogance, it’s a refreshing surprise. It’s my absolute pleasure and honor to have Gavin Bell on The Membership Guys podcast. Gavin is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and one of the UK’s leading Facebook advertising consultants. In this episode, Gavin and I discuss the most effective ways membership providers can use Facebook advertising, how to work out a sensible budget and achieve a healthy ROI, common mistakes and best practice, and so much more. This episode is chock-full of amazing advice for entrepreneurs and membership providers – I can’t think of any other way you could get more valuable information on Facebook ads in this amount of time. Essential Learning Points: The dos and don’ts of running Facebook ads for memberships Common mistake

Build it and they will come. While that approach may have worked for Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams; it most certainly does not apply to launching a successful membership website. Time and time again we see cases where people are so entrenched in the process of building their membership site that they haven’t even begun to think about how to get it off the ground. In this episode I share 5 launch strategies that are straightforward but effective, and can easily be combined with your existing launch plans to make sure your membership site gets off to a good start.

Launching a membership site is an exciting but nerve wracking time. You've probably put your blood, sweat and tears into creating this site, no doubt losing some sleep along the way. But when the time comes to actually open the doors, we can often find ourselves hesitating. What if it all goes wrong? Running a beta test can be a great way of assuaging this fear, as well as ensuring that you launch the best possible version of your membership. In this episode, I share my top tips on running an effective beta test for your membership site.

We can all be overprotective of our content, especially when it comes to being open and allowing our competitors into our safe and secure membership site. I choose to have an open-minded attitude and assume the best in people. There are ways to make it work and even benefit from opening your doors and letting them in, while staying vigilant. Essential Learning Points: Learn what it is that makes you different from your competitors Find out what to do if there’s a competitor in your community Learn about the red flags that indicate suspicious behaviour Listen to our crazy content theft story Important Links & Mentions:  Episode 198 = What to do when someone steals your membership content: https://www.themembershipguys.com/membership-content-theft/ Key Quotes: “It’s natural to be over-protective, but don’t get paranoid.”   “Always see the best in people! Don’t assume that people are joining with negative intentions.”  “We know our real competitors won’t steal our content. They don’t

Do you know what people in your audience actually want from your membership? When planning your membership site, it’s easy to fall into the trap of building something that we think would be good, rather than something that’s based on research into what your audience really want (and need). In doing so, you risk spending hours creating content and investing in features, only to be left scratching your head when people simply don’t engage in the way you hope they will. Whether it’s your membership offering; your blog, podcast or video channel; or even just the updates you post on social media – discovering what people actually want and need is critical to connecting with your audience and driving them to action. In this episode, I discuss 4 ways to discover what your audience really want.

Your membership might be the best thing since sliced bread, but if you aren’t marketing it correctly, you aren’t going to be getting the sales you deserve. There are some simple steps you can take to get the most out of marketing, reach more people, and turn those on-the-fencers into fully-fledged members. In this episode, we run through 9 marketing tips that will help you go back to basics - and earn some serious growth in your memberships as a result. Essential Learning Points: You can make small, simple changes at each stage in your funnel that will produce more sales, more consistently If 9 tips sound like too many, take just 2: you need a strategy for cart abandonments and a strategy for thank you pages Show people what you’re selling and keep your email list engaged Go behind the scenes and use your content to give a real insight into your membership Use your content to shout out and speak to your members Use rewards and splinter products to get slow movers further along the funnel

So, 2019 is done and dusted. Hopefully it was a successful one for you and your membership. It was certainly a big one for us, with more highlights than you can shake a stick at - many of which you've heard us 'document' right here on The Membership Guys Podcast. And I know this is so cliche... but I swear the older I get, the faster each year seems to pass. I can't quite come to terms with the fact that tomorrow it'll be 2020. Instead of freaking out about that, we're wrapping up the year with what has become a bit of a tradition here at The Membership Guys - our end of year recap show where we look back at the top 10 most popular episodes of the podcast throughout the past 12 months.

Although every membership site is unique, you’ll usually discover that seven types of members keep showing up in every single one of them. While some of these will mimic your ‘ideal member,’ others will test your patience and frustrate you beyond belief. Whatever the case, you’re sure to recognize some (if not all) of these ‘member profiles’ within your membership site! Listen in to discover the seven types of members you will see in every membership site. Essential Learning Points: The seven member types you’ll find in every membership site Key traits of members who engage and contribute more than others Why some members seem to just disappear from your membership A few unfortunate characteristics of members who are most likely to frustrate you Key Quotes: “The ‘Average Joes’ are the people who make up the majority of your member base. They're awesome. We love them. They are the lifeblood of our membership.” “The Power User are the one percent. These types of members are awesome because they contr

Are you thinking about charging a joining fee for your membership? A joining fee is an arbitrary fee that new members pay on top of their first monthly payment. If you ask me, I think that joining fees are unnecessary and there’s often no real justification for it. However, there are situations when a joining fee may be necessary. If you’re considering having a joining fee for your membership, make sure you listen to this episode of the podcast or read the blog post, where I dive into the topic of joining fees and explain everything you need to know about them. Essential Learning Points: Why joining fees are usually nothing more than unjustified arbitrary fees The hard truth that if someone is charging joining fees, they may not have their member’s best interests at heart How to control your members access to your back catalog of content Legitimate reasons when a joining fee may be appropriate Key Quotes: “They've realized that no one is staying in the membership for more than two or three months.

You know your membership is going through a downturn when you notice a reduction in sales, fewer member signups and a potential slowdown to your overall growth rate. When your membership experiences a downturn, it can be pretty nerve-wrecking as thoughts of its impending doom race through your mind. But, before you jump to conclusions, you need to take some time to analyse the situation and come up with ways to turn things around. In this episode of the podcast, I talk about how you can deal with a downturn in your membership so that it’ll survive for many more years to come. Episode Summary: How to assess the severity of your membership’s downturn Why it’s so important to have context and account for every possible factor as to why your membership is experiencing a downturn How changes you made to your membership months ago can impact it today How to find the root cause of the current downturn in your membership Key Quotes: “If you think your membership should be going up by 1000 new people every single mont

Is now a good time to have a membership site? On this special episode of the podcast, you’ll get to listen in to the opening keynote from our very first conference ‘Retain Live 2019.’ It was an incredible event with some phenomenal speakers gracing the stage eager to share their expertise and insights with the audience. The first keynote was delivered by myself (Mike Morrison) and Callie Willows, the other half of The Membership Guys. Our keynote explored the bigger picture of what is going on in the membership industry, what the future of the industry looks like and what people need to do to prepare for the months and years to come. So, if you missed the keynote the first time around, you’re in luck! Episode Summary: Positive and negative implications from the way the membership industry is going How to handle the increased competition for your members’ time and attention How to make sure your members don’t cut you from their monthly expenses as a result of subscription fatigue Why regulation is so important

Have you lost interest in your membership? When you first launched your membership, you were probably bursting with excitement and enthusiasm. But, over time those positive feelings you associated with your membership faded and now you can’t remember why you ever got into this in the first place, am I right? If you have a lack of interest and enthusiasm for your membership site, it’s time to make a change. Your first instinct shouldn’t be to quit. You should want to try and reignite the spark and passion that inspired you to launch your membership in the first place! In this episode, I share some tips to help you fall back in love with your membership. Essential Learning Points: How to know if your membership idea is something you can pursue long-term Why it’s important to identify the real reason why you’ve lost interest in your membership The benefits of trying new things in your membership Why you should take a break from your membership when you need to What a ‘happy folder’ is and why you need to create

A waitlist is a dedicated email list that people subscribe to in order to receive updates about a membership that you are going to launch in the future. We are big believers in setting up a waitlist for your membership. But once you have it organized you have to keep everyone engaged until your launch date. In this episode, we share lots of ways you can keep your waitlist interested and engaged with you so that once you launch, they can’t wait to get on board and consume the content you have on offer. Essential Learning Points: Build your knowledge and content base through research and surveys Why feedback and input from your list will benefit everyone How closed-door membership sites can also engage with a waitlist   Key Quotes “Setting up a waitlist is the first thing you should do when you are creating your first membership site.” “A substantial amount of your initial subscribers when you open will come from this waitlist.” “By having input, ownership, and influence over the content in your membership

Payment disputes are a reality of running any business, including membership sites. Luckily, they don’t happen often. But when they do, they take valuable time away from your business and revenue generating activities.  Since the beginning of the Membership Guys Academy site, we have had over 6,000 members and only 20 payment disputes.  We have learnt a few things about this issue along the way. Have a listen to find out what to do when they happen to you, and ways in which you can minimize the risk of them happening again in the future. Essential Learning Points: The typical payment dispute process Things to consider when a dispute is illegitimate Ways to minimize the risk of payment disputes from happening Key Quotes “Having a refund period that is fair is a good way of reducing the number of disputes that are filed against you.” “Even if you can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that someone is filing a totally spurious payment dispute, a nonsense dispute, and even if the payment provider believ

In our early days of working with memberships, we stumbled across an article that claimed that the average member only stays subscribed for a mere 3 months. You’ve probably heard this yourself. It’s a claim that’s been repeated and republished so much, that it became readily and widely accepted. But it’s nonsense. There’s not a single shred of data or evidence for that ‘3 month’ claim. No source data, report or study cited, anywhere. The fact that this claim persisted for so long is part of a larger problem. There is no reliable data available about the online membership industry. Truth is, this market is relatively tiny. It’s a niche, of a niche, of a niche. What data we do have comes from either the broader subscription industry, or from membership associations. Neither of which reflect the online membership world. We figured it was time to change that. It’s time for some real data and benchmarks for the online membership industry. So we’ve spent the past 4 months tapping into our audience of tens

It's coming up to that time of year where promotions and discounts abound. Whether it's Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas or New Year, the sales season is definitely upon us. While these kind of sales are traditionally for physical products, there's no doubt that digital products have jumped onto the bandwagon over the last few years, and you'll see more and more discounts being offered. But what about membership sites? Should you capitalize on these busy promotional periods where some kind of special offer is almost expected? And what about the rest of the year? Promotional campaigns can be a bit of a minefield for membership site owners, who need to walk the delicate line between getting new members in the door and keeping existing members happy. In this episode we're going to explore the different types of promotions that you can run for a membership website and the situations where they can be beneficial.

Despite what the slickest of snake oil salesmen will try to tell you, there is no secret sauce or golden formula for building a successful membership website. The key to the long term success of your membership site lies beyond marketing tactics, sales spiel and fancy production values; and the memberships which do best are those which - at their heart - understand and embrace a core set of fundamental principles. In this episode, I outline 7 essential principles shared by the most successful memberships around.

The path to membership success is paved with a litany of mistakes. Along the way you’re going to screw up, especially in the early days. It’s all part of the learning curve and it happens to the best of us – yes, even your friendly neighbourhood Membership Guys! However you will come to a point where it feel like you truly have your house in order, you’re now on the right track and those initial stumbles are far behind you. But time and time again we see seasoned membership site owners falling into the same traps as they attempt to manage and grow their business. In this episode, we’ll take a look at some of the most common pitfalls for experienced membership owners and, more importantly, how you can avoid them.

There are many reasons people are attracted to the membership model. The most compelling for us is how dramatically different (and better) making recurring income from a membership is compared to servicing clients on a one-on-one basis. This is particularly true if you’re a “one man band”, where you’re solely responsible for the delivery of what you sell, so that might be: Website developers Business coaches Graphic designers Marketing consultants Or anyone else who works with clients one on one or even in small groups. Your business is holding you back. In this episode, I’m going to explain why the membership model is far superior to offering one-to-one services, as well as show you how you can start incorporating memberships and subscriptions into your own business.

Retain Live 2019 was a phenomenal success - especially for our very first live event! However as we discussed during the first part of our "debrief", it was a little rocky in the build up. In this concluding episode, Callie and I talk through the event itself, breaking down everything that happened and how it all came together; sharing some of our biggest lessons and top takeaways for anyone thinking of running a similar event. In this episode... The moment we realised that all of our hard work, and the complete burnout we'd experienced, was totally worth it. A recap of the sessions, speakers and surprises from across the 3 days of the event How we added special touches and memorable moments to make our event truly remarkable Answering that all important question about whether we'll be running another event like this one